Tropical Storm Gert to brush Bermuda

Tropical Storm Gert is expected to brush Bermuda with gusty winds and up to 3 inches of rain on Monday.

But the small ocean nation should escape the worst of it, as the storm is projected to pass to the east of Bermuda. Gert's nastiest weather is to its north and east.

At 8 a.m. on Monday, Gert, the seventh named storm of the season, was about 100 miles southeast of Bermuda, moving north at 14 mph with sustained winds of 60 mph.

The system is expected to continue strengthening to near hurricane status within the next day and then curve northeast out to sea.

The National Hurricane Center also is monitoring two other disturbances.

One is an area of low pressure to Gert's southwest. Forecaster give it a near zero percent chance of developing over the next two days because of its proximity to Gert.

The other is a tropical wave about 325 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, the same area we were watching carefully last week but has been struggling to survive. Forecasters give it a 10 percent chance of developing as it moves west at 15 to 20 mph.

With Gert, the storm season now is a month ahead of schedule, as the seventh named storm on average doesn't emerge until Sept. 16. Yet no hurricanes have developed, and the first hurricane normally appears on Aug. 10, the second on Aug. 28.